True Colors Revealed
by AmacLucky13
Summary: This is a look back on everything Damon, Stefan, and Elena have done. As well as their relationships together. It may surprise you, things aren't always what they seem to be. Completely canon. Please take a look and let me know what you think! 4x10
1. Damon Salvatore

Damon Salvatore

Where to start?

For the longest time maybe for over a 162 years Damon has been nothing but second string to brother Stefan Salvatore. Before either brother became vampires or had even met Katherine there was a problem, though it was less obvious at the time to them. Their father started it by favoring Stefan over Damon. Some would say he saw Stefan as a second chance to have the obedient son to take over his business since Damon wasn't the type. He refused college. He left the military without word or remorse for his decision. He wasn't the ideal son his father wanted but Stefan was. Damon didn't take orders or being forced into a certain box well, he wasn't that kind of person. He was his own man.

With it began a long line of issues for the Salvatore Brothers continuing 145 years later. The issue being everyone choosing Stefan the so called 'Good Brother' over and over. Katherine continued the cycle after their father by choosing Stefan. She favored Stefan while she toyed with Damon. Though yeas she may have been in love with Damon or have actual feelings for him she clearly had much stronger ones for Stefan despite the complete and utter devotion from Damon. He would've have done anything for her, become anyone or anything for her, and he would've given up everything for her. Alas, she didn't feel the same for either brother that way though but she was willing to be seen in public with Stefan unlike with Damon. After she was supposedly buried in the tomb she spent the next 145 years lying to them about where she really was. She watched over Stefan while avoiding Damon. Once she returned though she told Damon for her it was Stefan that it would always be Stefan for her. This utterly destroyed Damon as he had been waiting 145 years to be reunited with her only to have her completely reject his love for her. It cut him deeply as it had when he heard his brother was in transition just as he was. It was supposed to be him, only him. It's why he promised Stefan an eternity of misery because Katherine hurt him so deeply.

Once the two brothers returned home to Mystic Falls a 145 years after they had met Katherine. Everyone soon forms their own opinions about the two mysterious brothers labeling Stefan the 'Good Brother' while Damon is named the 'Bad Brother.' Both welcome their roles with open arms as Damon wants to be feared now, he wants to control, and claim his prize: Katherine. Until he meets Katherine's doppelganger Elena Gilbert who realizes that there is more to Damon.

Elena is the first to see there is more to Damon than what everyone can see so plainly on the surface, there is so much hidden beneath.

Damon plays the part of the monster to everyone including Elena and Alaric the people who become Damon's best friends and closest allies. Both of them realize he plays the part of the monster because it's the best way to keep people at arm's length. It keeps him from getting hurt by those he lets in because everyone he has let in has burned him. So much so now he believed the only one he could trust was himself. It's so much easier for him to just be hated; there is no threat to his heart in being hated. But Elena for her part understands Damon and can see everything he has ever done has been in the name of love since that's what he spent 145 years fighting for.

Damon is passionate, hot-headed, hard to control, unpredictable, and is anything but heartless. Damon doesn't allow many people into his heart for fear they may break whatever is left of it. Since Katherine he has only allowed a few into his heart. He let Elena and Alaric in though Alaric certainly only saw less than Elena saw of Damon's true colors.

Unlike for Alaric though, Damon is willing to do anything for Elena. He would let her hate him if it meant she would be alive do it. He would let someone she cared about die if it meant keeping her alive. He would die for her. He would do whatever she asked, no matter how painful. He would stand aside and watch her with his brother if he thought she was happy. He would claim his brother deserves her and he doesn't. He would never lie to her. He would never break a promise to her. He would be there whenever she needed him. He would be the one to keep her alive. He would make it real. He would never force her to feel anything for him. He would never force her to spend time with him. He would be the one to keep her alive. Most of all, though, his love would be unconditional.

To most Damon is an awful person being encouraged by Elena to be a 'better man' despite all believing him incapable. Elena saw he was more than capable, that he was a better man, and he had just hidden his true self away. She didn't wish to change him only to let him be himself, but she accepted him the way he was even if he didn't. He claimed he wasn't the better man, that it wasn't who he really was, and that she was forcing him to be something he wasn't. But the truth of it was it was just hard for him to be something he hadn't been in so long: Himself.

Elena over time saw who he really was and could break through to him when no one else could. She understood him when no else did or even still does. She trusts him, not only with herself but with those close to her. When he tells her something she believes it because he's never been anything but truthful with her. She ran to him with problems she couldn't tell anyone else, not even Stefan. She wants him around when hell breaks loose because she knows she's sage with him. He became her best friend, wormed his way under her skin, and then into her heart. She can't shake him no matter what she does. Even before she truly knew or felt something for him when she saw who he was for a just a moment she refused from then on to let him die. She protects him, even when most would let him die for all the crimes he's committed, but she won't and can't.

In turn Damon has always been there when she's needed him. Such as when she hit a man (vampire) with her car, he saved her from getting killed. He helped her take five minutes from her drama filled life and just have fun for once. He gave her a second option out of going to the dance but she felt confident in the brothers' protection. He was there when Stefan disappeared in the middle of the Miss Mystic Pageant so she wouldn't be humiliated he stepped in for Stefan. He helped find, stop, and lock up Stefan when his bloodlust got the best of him. He stayed with her while she sat with the detained Stefan. He helped her returned his brother's control and told her more of their story. He protected her when her mother threatened her. He offered to save Caroline by giving her his blood. He stopped her from getting hurt by Elijah. Twice. He put himself between her and certain death knowing it was a fight he would lose. He realized Bonnie would die and let Elena think it was real to trick Klaus because it had to be real. He told her the truth and she understood, no questions asked. He tried to make sure she would return to him, no matter what. He would not lose her. He tried to stop the ritual once he realized it wasn't what she wanted and he couldn't stand the idea of her hating him forever. He carried her away, staying with her until she woke, human and not hating him forever. He was there for her while they looked endlessly for his wayward ripper brother. He remained by her side after a stupid lapse in judgment made him take off, leaving her unprotected. He promised her after she tearfully asked him where he had been that he would never leave her again. She was reassured since he never broke his promises to her. He remained helpful and by her side once she became something she never wanted: a vampire. Even after a brief period when he thought to honor his promise to his brother to leave instead he remained with her to teach her how to be a vampire. To control herself and to learn the proper way to hunt.

During this time she tried to make things work between her and Stefan but they had one too many problems now. She trusted Damon far more after they found out Stefan had been lying to them and in cahoots with Klaus. Although Elena isn't entirely without guilt since she turned to Damon instead of Stefan when she couldn't hold down any sort of blood. She kept looking to Damon for help instead of her boyfriend. Something that didn't go unnoticed by either of them Stefan broke it off even after Damon took the moral high ground. Damon didn't use the fact that Elena kept turning to him instead of Stefan. He told her the truth, to fix things between her and Stefan. He loved her enough to respect her choice and to try to help fix the couple's problems. He let her go. How can someone like this be considered selfish?

After one perfect night and morning with Elena once Damon was finally chosen the whole world around them came tumbling down brick by brick. They discovered Elena was sired to Damon. They aren't sure how much the bond may be influencing Elena's emotions as well as actions since very little is known about a sire bond between two vampires since they are so rare. They also believe it may be altering the way Elena feels for Damon by intensifying the romantic feelings that created it in the first place. Now Damon isn't sure Elena has really chosen him. All he needed was a little doubt to think everything he shared with her was nothing more than some fraud. Elena on the other hand has never been surer about anything in her entire life. Despite a confession of love Damon still remains unconvinced. It all links back to the fact that Damon has never been chosen over his brother. Everyone including Stefan believe he is the better brother, that he is better than Damon. So how can one man stand against a million voices? Find _one_ that will agree with him.

Damon had hoped it would be Elena even when she constantly repeated to him over and over that it would always be Stefan he held some small hope because they did have such a strong connection. He hoped one day she would change her mind and choose him over Stefan. Once that day finally came he still had reason enough to doubt her thanks to the sire bond. Now he hopes to get the cure to find out whether or not she really does care for him. After all she did say when she choose Stefan it wasn't for always, it was just for right now, and it seems the right now has changed.

Damon has been craving love since 1864 which is why he was so eager to love Katherine. It's why he was so eager and willing to become a vampire so he could be with her forever, so he could have love forever. It's why he clung to saving Katherine from the tomb and why he was so heartbroken to find out she had been free for 145 years without bothering to contact him. He finally saw Katherine for what she was. She was never really as interested in him as she was in his brother. Damon lost Katherine for a second time to Stefan no less, everyone's first choice.

Underneath his façade of being a cold, heartless, monster is a truly selfless man with more scars than most. Damon insisted at one point to Elena that he didn't deserve her but his brother did. Before he compelled her to forget that along with his first admittance of love to her and that he couldn't be selfish with her. Damon has never been selfish when it comes to Elena. He stood by and watched her be with his brother instead of himself. He never tried to really force her into falling in love with him when he had multiple opportunities to do so. She spent three months with him without vervain or his brother but he never compelled her. When it comes to Elena he is absolutely selfless so maybe it's time he be selfish with her and stop denying himself. It's also proven through that he doesn't tell her everything good deed he has done just to get the credit, he keeps them to himself as well. He didn't tell her about what he did for Rose or that they met first or that he thought his brother deserved her and that he didn't or just how much he loves her.

Underneath his façade is a vulnerable man who desperately wants someone to love him over his brother. He thought it would be Elena who had seen everything until she chose Stefan once more. After a while Damon began returning to his monster façade to push people away because maybe he believes if even Elena couldn't love the real him, then maybe no one can. He had shown her everything only to get shot down repeatedly in favor of his brother. So when she changed her mind and chose him instead he leapt at the chance consequences from his brother be damned. He had waited for her to finally decide she wanted him and he wasn't about to let her walk away or change her mind on him again. He knew thing with his brother would be hard but he felt dut bound to tell his brother no matter how hard it might be or how mad he might get. Damon thought his brother deserved to know and for him to do the right thing by him.

Damon always tried to do right by his brother. To look out for him, protect him even when he was upset or angry with him, and to watch over his little brother because they are still brothers at the end of the day. Damon didn't do all he could have for his brother in the last 145 years but Elena changed him, made him even better than he was. After that Damon decided to be much more helpful to his brother to try to teach him control. Can Stefan say the same? Or is Stefan only there for Damon when he's about to die? Is Stefan only a brother when his brother is dying?

Damon isn't perfect by far but he is a better man than anyone thinks aside from Elena who knows all of his deepest, darkest secrets. She's seen him at rock bottom, at his absolute worst, she's seen him do horrible things, and has never been spared the truth when it comes to him. Yet she remains here and by his side despite the awful crimes he has committed because he was always there for her when she needed him. He always lends a hand. He always shows up in the nick of time. He protects her. Comforts her. Although no one would ever see his greatest traits because he hides them away behind a mask of evil. Damon the so called 'Bad Brother' isn't truly all that bad. He's just lonely and searching for a mate who will choose him always.

Damon Salvatore may be a monster to all but he is a savoir to one.

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**Thanks for reading! :)**


	2. Stefan Salvatore

Stefan Salvatore

Since the day he was born Stefan has always been first even though he wasn't born first. He has always been the favorite of the Salvatore Brothers. His father saw redemption with his second son. Stefan may not have been the first born but he was treated as such by their father. Stefan was completely invested in his studies, listened to his father, and generally heeded his word. Stefan put faith in his father where it did not belong. He trusted his father because he thought his father trusted him. Stefan was to take over the family business, not Damon who was constantly sent away from home. First off to college which Damon hated and then he was sent up to the military because he was of a good age. Stefan stayed behind despite his wish to go with his brother his father wished for him to stay.

From the moment he met Katherine he was taken with her and he wanted her whether or not he would admit it during their first meeting. He pursued her despite his brother's want over her, and the fact that Stefan was engaged to someone else at the time. After his fiancé passed on under mysterious circumstances he began pursuing Miss Katherine much more openly. Stefan willingly fought his brother for her affection in a playful manner, both keeping their friendship intact for the moment. Though Katherine chose him over Damon repeatedly it was not enough for him. He wished to have her all to himself. Katherine, however, as selfish as she was wished to have both of them with her forever and began making plans with that in mind.

Although Stefan may wish to think otherwise Katherine never forced his for her only that he be unafraid of her, not tell anyone about her true nature, and that they remain as they are. All three of them. He may wish to think otherwise but he did love Katherine. After all he told Elena his room was full of memories he wished to keep including a picture of Katherine. She was important enough to Stefan for him to hold onto the picture for 145 years. Why else would he have bothered to pay attention to Elena in the first place? He had said what caught him first was how much she looked like Katherine which is why he had to know her. He still felt something for Katherine, even after so long because a first love never really dies. Just as Elena's for him will never die either. It may not have been true love between Katherine and Stefan but it was a first love because Stefan had said he never felt like that with anyone else before. It may not have been true love, but it was true enough. He held her in his heart for 145 years.

Now for the part some people may find hard to hear: Stefan loves Elena, but like Katherine before her, it is not true love. Stefan met Elena when she was stilled reeling and dealing with her parents' untimely death. He showed up when she needed someone to lean on who didn't look at her like a lost puppy but just at her. Someone who wouldn't look at her like she was suffering and to help her get through all of her problems including all the supernatural ones that went with her new life. Stefan made her feel again. He made her laugh and smile. And once she found out he was a vampire it made her love him even more because unlike her parents he couldn't die. He would never and could never leave her. She knew he would always love her. He would always be a comfort to her.

For Stefan he loved the human Elena who had changed once from who she had been before her parents passed away. He loved her humanity because it made him feel human. He loved that she wanted to remain human no matter what. She wanted to grow old, get married, have kids, grand kids, and die. Something Stefan wants too. The last thing either of them wanted was to become a vampire. They both wanted normal human lives. With Elena Stefan got closer to his humanity. He protected her, worried for life, worried for her feelings, bit in all truths his love became conditional on her humanity. Once she became a vampire he found it harder to deal with her because they didn't want the same things anymore. They were no longer on the same page and Stefan had trouble relating to what she really wanted. He couldn't be with her that way anymore. Stefan is good at pretending to be human but he has always been unable to be a true vampire, to accept his nature, and learn to control it. Elena wanted to learn to control it and be a vampire in every way. She was more like Damon. Her true personality, the one she was before her parents died mixed with the Elena he knew wasn't anything like him, she was like Damon. It was something Stefan can't relate to. He couldn't be a vampire with her and have fun with it like she could. It caused the start of a gap between them.

Stefan felt guilty having fun after all the lives he had taken over the years, like he didn't deserve to have fun since those people couldn't have fun. He's tried to make-up for it over the years by not feeding on humans anymore and choosing to feed on animals instead. He tries to protect people but every so often he can't help but fall off the wagon and go on a binge killing people. He never quite got that aspect of himself under control. Stefan instead rejected all that he is now.

Stefan treated Elena well when they were together. He cared for her, comforted her, protected her, loved her, and made her feel again when she thought she could not. He respected her choices whether he agreed with them or not. He respected her choice in everything and always asked for her opinion. He let her make her own decisions in how to save everyone or herself. He made friends with her friends and placed himself into her life like any good boyfriend would. He did his best to protect everyone she loved all the time. He was always willing to help Elena with all her problems as well as with her friends' problems. When something went wrong or something awful happened to their friends or family or in Mystic Falls Stefan was the first one to offer Elena a shoulder to cry on. He was there when she found out her family wasn't exactly who they thought they were.

Stefan is always there when he has to tell her bad news. He was there for her when she found out who her real parents were. He told her the truth that she was actually adopted. He was there for her when her friends were in danger. He was there for her when she was kidnapped or in danger. He was there when she wanted her real father gone. He was there for her after every time Damon did something stupid to push her away. He was there for her throughout all their problems with Katherine. He was there for her throughout their issues with Klaus. He was there for her when she admitted she didn't ever want to be a vampire. He tried to save her family members from the sacrifice. He saved her newest protector. Repeatedly. He was there for her when she needed to change the plan to visit the original witch without Damon interfering. He was there for her when she wanted him to save Matt from the wreck. He was there for her once they were captured. He was there for her training. He was there for her when she needed to catch animals to be a vampire. He was there for her when she was having vivid hallucinations. He was there for her when they found the sire bond.

Considering all he and Elena have been through and how much the two of them care for each other it came to a halt when Stefan began to realize there may be more between Damon and Elena than just friendship. He saw how much Elena ran to Damon for help despite his presence in her life once more as her boyfriend she acted as though she were still without Stefan. Stefan understood why she had run to Damon while he was on a ripper binge since Damon was the only one she really had left to trust completely. He understood why she had run to Damon while he was gone; he had given her no other choice than to trust Damon. What he couldn't understand was why not that he's back why she would still run to Damon with him standing right there. He could see the feelings Elena was struggling to deal with now. It was like she could almost trust Damon more. In fact, it was exactly like she was trusting Damon more than she trusted him. She ran to Damon with every problem and she didn't bother to tell him. He could see how her faith and trust in him was staring to wear thin but what he didn't know or understand was why.

He was trying to save her from a life like this, from a life as a vampire. He was trying to save both of them from an eternity or existence of vampirism. Though in order to do what he had to do he had to keep secrets from everyone including Elena. He had thought Elena would trust in him and that she would know whatever he was doing he was doing it for a good reason but she didn't see it. He knew trust had always been big in their relationship or in any relationship involving Elena. He hadn't thought he had lost her trust in the time he had been gone. He thought he had earned it back but instead he was forced to watch as Elena turned to Damon over and over again. He had thought Elena would trust he would explain when he was able and that the secret keeping was only temporary. The worst of it being truth was given light to his words that he had lost Elena the minute he left. Maybe he had kept part of her but it seems that her trust had been one of the things he had lost.

When they broke up Stefan had tried said words long ago spoken between them to mean 'I love you' hoping she would say her coded words back. Instead he had seen the look in her eye, she had heard what he said and instead of saying it back she just softly said that she knew. To both the hidden meaning and the actual meaning.

Stefan had never felt more broken in his entire life than hearing Damon and Elena had slept together and then of course why Elena had done so because she was in love with his brother. Along with her admittance of how Stefan made her feel now. She had said she wanted to get that girl who died on the bridge back, that's all he was trying to do, he was trying to help her get that part of herself back. Didn't she see it? Stefan knew he had hurt Elena by wishing all the time he had spent with her was gone, completely erased from his memory like it had never actually happened. Despite all the pain she'd endured the last thing Elena had ever wanted to was forget everything they had gone through together. To her what she saw was that none of the good memories they had together were enough to outweigh all the pain he was suffering from now. Even when they hadn't been together for very long and she had just begun with the supernatural world she didn't want to forget because she couldn't lose the way she felt for him. Then again after he had nearly killed her after Klaus forced him to turn off his humanity. Damon offered to take away what Elena didn't want to remember but she refused. She claimed she needed to remember everything that had happened with Stefan, even the bad. Despite the pain of it Elena chose to live with it anyway. So it shocked Elena when she saw Stefan so ready and willing to forget all of it. Not even his brother had wanted to take it all away even if it meant in the end Damon's death he would do it over because if he didn't he would never have met Elena.

Stefan's personality became warped and changed since his adventure with Klaus. He couldn't deal with the thought of Elena with Damon. He took drastic measures to get Jeremy to become a hunter despite Damon's warning not to. He moved out of his own home to let Elena more in since he couldn't deal with Damon and Elena together as well as near him. He destroyed part of his house when he heard they had slept together. He went on a drinking binge. Then he refused to help until he had a chance to kill an original. He blamed the sire bond and Elena sleeping with Damon for his pain and heartbreak. He took what Elena thought of him extremely hard. He wished to forget everything they had been through together to escape his pain. He declared his hatred for his brother. He teamed up with Elena's biggest rival and enemy.

Most of all he's turned rather selfish in a way. He expected his brother to release Elena from the sire bond to return her free will so could choose between them again. But there would be no choice, Damon would force Elena to forget him. Damon wouldn't even be a choice for Elena anymore since she wouldn't know him. Stefan would be the only choice for her. He wondered if Damon was selfless enough. Better question; Would he? Stefan has never really had to let Elena go completely. She came after him once he left with Klaus and brought him back before his decade long binge was over. Klaus compelled him to turn off but once he could feel again he was free to feel for her and go after her again. He's never had to give her or anything else up. He's always had someone there to love him, he's always been someone's first choice. He wouldn't have to give her up if Damon broke the sire bond. He could still be around Elena while Damon would be forced to leave her. Stefan isn't selfless, he's selfish. Not once did he think or care about what would happen to his brother only to himself and his relationship with Elena. He wanted to return her to the way she was before she turned. He wants to fix her. Return her to the Elena that was still in love with him, still choosing him, and still human. He couldn't even listen to her, he just walked away without bothering to let her explain or to try and help him. Unlike his brother who remained as Elena's friend even when she chose Stefan over and over.

Stefan is supposed to be good and Elena's epic love but he isn't all that good and he doesn't truly love Elena. His love-if true-should be unconditional no matter what but he can't love Elena as a vampire. He can't love her even when she chooses someone else. He can't stand being second fiddle when he's always been everyone's number choice. He's blame it on anything to explain it.

Stefan the so called 'Good Brother' hides his worst traits behind a mask of heroism so no one can know who he really is.

Stefan Salvatore may be a hero to all but he is lost to one.

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**A.N. Please, let me know what you guys think! Good or bad just don't be rude! I love feedback! :)**


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